SURYA NAMASKARA: EASY WAY TO BURN CALORIES AT HOME !

WHO SAYS YOU CAN SWEAT IN GYM ONLY?

Yes, you read it right. Surya Namaskar also known as sun salutations, is a complete set of exercises! This is the exercise which you can do at home and burn more calories in less time.

Why? How to do it? What are the benefits? You can read all about it in this article.

Surya Namaskar is a form of showing gratitude towards the sun at the beginning of your day.

SURYA NAMASKARA: HOW TO PERFORM?

PREPARATORY POSE OF SURYA NAMASKAR:

Do surya namaskar in the early morning. If you want to do it in the evening, then keep your stomach empty at least 2–3 hours minimum before you do sun salutations.

Stand on the mat, mostly the front part of your mat.

Stand in an upright position in such a way that your great toes, heels of both feet, knees touch each other.

Keep your hands in a namaste position, both palms, fingers together. Keep namaste posture in between your chest, close to the midline of the chest.

1. SURYA NAMASKAR POSE 1: Pranamasana or the Prayer Pose

It’s like a preparatory pose, standing in an upright position, placing your feet close together. Relax your chest, shoulder. Take a deep breath and feel the expansion of your chest. Keep your hands in a namaste position in between your chest. Slowly exhale breath. Prepared for 2nd pose.

2. SURYA NAMASKAR POSE 2: Hasta Uttanasana or the Raised Arms Pose

While taking a deep breath, raise your hands upwards simultaneously, bend backward, push the hip region forward and stretch back. While performing the pose, keep your biceps close to your ears.

This asana gives the stretch to your whole posterior part of the body from the heel to the neck.

3. SURYA NAMASKAR POSE- 3: Hasta Padasana or the Standing Forward Bend Pose

While exhaling, bend forward and try to touch the floor with your palm without bending your knee as well as try to touch your forehead to your knees. Try to remain firm in this pose with normal breathing.

Do not bend your knees to attend perfect posture. It is totally ok if your hand touches the ankle or feet or forehead does not touch knees. It totally depends on your physical health and flexibility of your body. As you do regular practice of these asanas, one day you can achieve perfect posture.

In this posture, you can feel stretch at your back, back of the leg muscles. When you bend forward, the abdomen remains in a folding position, which will create some pressure on your abdomen. The pressure on the abdomen induces good digestion.

4. SURYA NAMASKAR POSE- 4 : Ardha-bhujangasana or the Lunge Pose

After the 2nd pose, inhale the breath and try to attend this pose. In this pose, keep your right leg folded at the knee and right foot in between two palms. Simultaneously stretch your left leg backward. To balance your body, touch palms to the ground. Move your head back in backward directions which forms an arch position of back.

When you fold your right leg at the knee, make sure your calf region presses to the thigh. While the knee and toes of the left leg touch the ground. The heel of the left foot directed upwards.

In this position you can feel stretch at the abdomen muscle and back region. As both legs have different postures, it creates pressure in the waist area.

5. SURYA NAMASKAR POSE- 5: Chaturanga Dandasana or the Plank Pose

In classical sun salutation, in this posture you should hold your breath in an inhale position. After the 3rd pose, stretch your right leg backward and keep it close to your left leg. Do not bend your hand in elbow, keep hands straight while touching palms to ground. Keep your heels upwards by touching the toes to the ground. In this position lift your waist and keep back, thighs, legs in one align position away from ground. Balanced your pose on your palms and toes. Keep your gaze straight.

In this asana, you will feel stress all over your body except facial muscles.

6. SURYA NAMASKAR POSE -6: Ashtanga Namaskar or the Eight Limbed Pose

You exhale the breath and bring your body to the floor. But as the name suggests, eight limbs pose; only eight points of your body are grounded, and rest of your body parts remain away from the ground. Try to touch your forehead, chest, both knees, toes, both palms to the ground; while desperately trying to keep your nose, abdomen, thighs in the air, away from the ground. Keep your hand folded in the elbow region.

In this position, you can feel pressure on your abdomen and back of neck region.

7. SURYA NAMASKAR POSE-7 : Bhujangasana or the Cobra Pose

In the 6th pose we exhale and make the body relaxed. Now while inhaling the breath attend this position. Very easy yoga pose. Lift your upper body from the waist region upwards, make an arch of your back by moving your head, neck and back backward. Keep your hand straight by touching the palms to the ground. Keep your both legs straight backward, close together and grounded. Stretched toes backward and kept the nails on ground.

While inhaling, your back muscles feel stretched. Good stretching exercise for your spine and back area.

8. SURYA NAMASKAR POSE-8 : Adho Mukha Svanasana or the Downward Facing Dog

In the traditional way of surya namaskar you should hold your breath while performing this pose. In this pose, lift your waist upward by touching your heel to the ground. Keep your hands and legs straight without bending them in elbows or knees. Try to touch your chin to the jugular notch. Keep your gaze towards the feet. Your body forms an inverted V in this posture.

When you perform pose 7 and 8 together, it produces good effects on your abdomen and back muscles. Also helps the internal organs of the abdomen.

9. SURYA NAMASKAR POSE-9 : Ardha Bhujangasana or the High Lunge Pose

This posture is repetition of pose 4. Only difference is breathing. Here also you must hold your breath to do this pose. Bring your left foot forwards and bend into the knee. Keep your right leg straight backwards, knee and toes touch the ground while heel directed upward. Move your upper body backward and produce an arch in the back. In this pose, for balance keep your palm grounded without bending your hand in elbows. Gently push your waist to the ground for more stretch.

You will feel stretch on back muscles and heel area.

Remember one thing, if you stretch your left leg backward in 4th pose then in this pose, stretch your right leg backward. In this way, in one surya namaskar you can get similar stretch and muscle effects for both legs at the same time.

10. SURYA NAMASKAR POSE- 10 : Hasta Padasana the Standing Forward Bend

This pose is the same as the 3rd asana. Here you exhale the air and bring your right leg near the left one. Keep your legs and hands straight, try to touch your forehead to knees and palms to the floor. In any condition do not bend your knees, keep the leg straight so you can feel stretch at the back side of your legs.

As you exhale the air, you feel more relaxed. You can feel stretch in your posterior part of your body.

11. SURYA NAMASKAR POSE — 11 : Hasta Uttanasana or the Raised Arms Pose

While inhaling, raise your arms upwards and attend to a similar position like pose number 2. Raise arms towards head and backwards, along with your head and back bend backwards.

This is good stretching for the whole body.

12. SURYA NAMASKAR POSE — 12:

This is nothing but a preparatory pose for sun salutation. Bring your hands in a namaste position close to the midline of your chest. Exhale and inhale with this posture.

Just relax your body and prepare for 2nd surya namaskar.

These are 12 poses of surya namaskar, but you can do 10 poses also. Skip the 2nd and 11th pose that is raised arm pose while doing sun salutation. It’s totally up to you, which you feel is good for your body.

While doing 10 yoga poses of surya namaskar breathing is an integral part of it. At 1st pose inhale, 2nd pose exhale, 3rd pose inhale, 4th pose hold the breath, 5th pose exhale, 6th pose inhale, 7th and 8th pose hold the breath , at 9th pose exhale and at 10th pose inhale. Inhale, holding the breath and exhale unified with pranayama.

In general, when you do the traditional way of sun salutation where you keep check on breathing also. You can complete 13 surya namaskar in 5–7 minutes. But according to your health condition and age, you can keep it slow or fast. In weight loss yoga, you can do fast salutations. You can perform salutation 1, 5, 12, 51, 108, 1008 times depending upon your health requirements.

It is a perfect mixture of exercise and pranayama, so try to do it regularly as soon as you get up from the bed.

If you want to do traditional surya namaskar, it is a more spiritual blended exercise. If you prefer simple exercise you can do it to keep your body healthy and for weight loss also.

You can do sun salutations in slow or fast ways. In both ways, you will get health benefits accordingly. A comparative study of ‘ slow and fast Surya namaskar on physiological functions’ among school going children published in International Journal of Yoga. This study shows that the effects of Fast Surya Namaskar are like aerobic exercises; it increases muscular endurance and power. Whereas the effects of slow surya namaskar are like those of Yoga training. Slow surya namaskar has positive physiological benefits like increasing your strength, stamina, and provides good heart health.

HEALTH BENEFITS:

1. Surya Namaskar is a combination of stretching and endurance exercise, it improves flexibility of the body. It increases the strength of arms, lower limbs. If you do it in combination with walking and circuit training, it helps to reduce weight.

2. Sun salutation helps stretching and toning muscle of the abdomen, back, upper- lower extremities.

3. Surya Namaskar increases lung capacity. It is beneficial for asthma. One of the studies among medical students about pranayama and surya namaskar effects on respiratory system concludes that surya namaskar and pranayama improves lung capacity. Surya Namaskar is a perfect combination of physical and breathing exercises which keeps our respiratory system healthy and away from lung diseases.

4. While doing surya namaskar, at pose 3, 5, 6 ; some pressure is created on the abdomen. Which directly affects internal organs, glands of the abdomen. This helps to correct indigestion, constipation, and acidity problems.

5. Surya Namaskar helps in hormonal metabolism. Mostly helpful women with PCOS.

6. 10 poses of surya namaskar are a series of extension flexion exercises, which improve muscle tone, flexibility, and body postures.

The below picture of watch is showing calories I burnt after doing fast sun salutations in 40 minutes. I did 100 surya namaskaras.

In this year, to perform 100 suryanamaskara for 15–20 days of every month is my resolution. I hope you also enjoy calorie burn at your home in this winter with suryanamaskara.

If you have any queries regarding Suryanamaskara and you want to learn, message, or mail me. I will help you to learn it online.

Dr. Sujata Chougule, MD (Home), Yoga-teacher.